Italy raises awareness over fraudulent olive oil

Italy’s largest farming group and lobby has warned of deceptive practices to sell imported products as genuine Italian extra virgin olive oil. According to Coldiretti, Italy imported some 666,000 tons of olive oil and olive pomace in 2014, a 38% increase on the previous year and the highest figure in the past 20 years. The growth in imports was mostly due to the 35% drop in national production to 300,000 tonnes, compared to 464,000 tonnes in the previous season.